March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Maine town yearns for ZIP code all its own

NORTH YARMOUTH — The U.S. Postal Service says it is reviewing a request by North Yarmouth for its own ZIP code, but no decision is expected before September.

Townspeople say the lack of a uniform code that can be used by all 2,392 residents has caused confusion among people sending mail to North Yarmouth.

At present, the town is divided into four sections, with separate ZIP codes served by post offices in Cumberland Center, Yarmouth, Pownal and Gray.

“Right now, we’re no place,” says Selectman Kenneth Allen, whose mail is addressed to 123 New Gloucester Road, Pownal — a nonexistent street address that confounds package delivery services.

Many residents and businesses use addresses in neighboring towns to avoid losing mail, said Scott Seaver, North Yarmouth’s administrative assistant.

“There are a lot of people having trouble with this,” Allen says. “If you don’t have a ZIP code, you don’t exist.”

Critics say the lack of a single ZIP code results in mismarked mail that arrives late or not at all.

“It’s a good-sized town,” says Martha Sharp, who runs a hobby shop with her husband, Matthew. “You’d think it could get its own post office. If Cumberland Foreside can have its own ZIP code, why can’t we?”

A petition signed by 300 residents in March asked the U.S. Postal Service to give North Yarmouth its own ZIP code and, preferably, a post office. The town’s overall population is just under 2,400, roughly double the number 30 years ago.

Postal officials say the request is being reviewed, but a decision will come in September at the earliest.

About 50 municipalities in Maine lack their own post office and would like one, said Joseph Meuse, director of marketing and communications for the Postal Service in Portland.

Maine has about 100 other communities, many of them small, with more than one post office, Meuse said. Lisbon, for example, has three post offices — in Lisbon, Lisbon Center and West Lisbon — to serve a total population of 9,457.


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